A Beginner’s Guide to the Los Angeles Startup Ecosystem

Los Angeles is one of the largest tech startup ecosystems in the world, ranked 3rd in 2012. It has a multitude of schools, accelerators, incubators, co-working spaces, and venture capital firms to support its more than 6,000 startups.

Los Angeles is mostly known for entertainment, gaming, production, and video. Some examples of startups include Maker Studios, Oculus, Fullscreen, Riot Games, and Machinima. There are also several startups well suited for LA, where everyone owns a car, such as TrueCar, Cargomatic, and Honk. LA has a large population and is desirable city for millennials to live, making it an ideal ecosystem for social startups like Snapchat and Tinder. Here are some notable LA startups:

Startups

Highly educated human capital is vital to a startups and Los Angeles is home to some of the highest ranked business and computer science universities in the country. Additionally, there programming boot-camps like General Assembly and Sabio that teach coding.

Accelerators and incubators were formed to assist founders with funding, mentorship, and co-working space in exchange for equity. These cohort-based programs usually culminate in a demo day, where each startup pitches to a group of potential investors. LA has some of the top accelerators and incubators in the country:

Accelerators & Incubators

Co-working spaces are often the hub of a tech startup ecosystem. They provide a shared working environment, hosted tech events, and networking with like-minded entrepreneurs. Here is a list of some notable co-working spaces around LA:

Co-Working Spaces

Access to funding is essential to the growth of a startup and Los Angeles has numerous venture capital firms. In 2014, over $3B was invested in Los Angeles tech, the highest funding total ever and an increase of 188% from the previous year. Los Angeles was late to tech startup scene, compared to Silicon Valley and Boston, however it is growing rapidly. Here are some notable VC firms in LA: